Profile: Brandon Maurer showed up a little out of nowhere in the spring and posted strong enough numbers to earn a shot at the rotation on the big league squad. He threw 24 innings last spring, giving up just four earned runs (1.50 ERA), and striking out 25, and started popping up on a lot of sleeper candidate lists. By the end of May, he had a 6.93 ERA with a 2-7 record, striking out just 32 and giving up 66 hits in 49.1 innings pitched. Yeeks. He didn't have much better success pitching from the bullpen, and when sent down to Triple-A Tacoma, his troubles continued, with a 5.21 ERA and 1.58 WHIP. Maurer is still just 23, he was rushed a bit, and he's likely a much better pitcher than what he demonstrated in 2013, but he'll probably start the year at Triple-A in an effort to right the ship and get him back on track as a back-of-the rotation kind of candidate. He's a keeper flier on draft day, but dodge him in standard formats. (Michael Barr)

The Quick Opinion: Brandon Maurer pitched well enough out of Spring Training that Seattle's "big three" of Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, and Danny Hultzen started to stretch to a "big four." It didn't take long for Maurer to lose his rotation spot and what seemed to be his confidence as all of 2013 was pretty much a loss. They'll no doubt try to get him back on track as a starter at Tacoma, and there's certainly potential for this youngster to contribute down the road. But he's not likely to be a good addition for your fantasy roster.

Profile: The Mariners obviously don't love Brandon Maurer, so you shouldn't fall too hard for the factoids that are about to appear in this space. 1) Brandon Maurer had the number one spin rate on his curveball this year, and a similarly high spin rate was why the Astros went and found Collin McHugh. 2) By career whiff rates, Maurer has an above average slider (16% whiffs), an average curve (10%), and a representative change (11%). 3) His command has been better than average, his velocity even as a starter was above-average, and he's gotten average grounders, so those aspects of his game haven't been a problem. Unfortunately, you have to return to the first sentence after the excitement of the list. What sort of opportunity will his new team give him if his old team threw him by the wayside so often? The Padres seem to have seven or eight pitchers ahead of Maurer as we speak, and they've been so active it's hard to call them done. If his shot is in the bullpen, he'll have to leap past some names there, too. And the Mariners had him abandon his curve, so his arsenal is more narrow than it used to be. Maybe the Padres will allow him recapture the magic of that curveball and give him an opportunity to be fantasy relevant this year. (Eno Sarris)

The Quick Opinion: Brandon Maurer is only 24 but it seems like he's running out of chances. If he's a fastball/slider reliever, he's got a tough road ahead of him for fantasy relevance. But if his new team gives him back his curve and a chance in the rotation, take notice.

Profile: In his three professional seasons, Brandon Maurer glimpsed the Seattle Mariners' rotation before the San Diego Padres converted him into a full-time reliever in 2015. Unfortunately, Maurer is simply an average, albeit consistent, reliever, who posted pedestrian everythings en route to a pedestrian season. Last season, however, offered some hope: Maurer improved his swinging strike rate more than 30%, thanks in large part to a change-up that induced a silly number of swings-and-misses and allowed exactly zero extra-base hits. Hope for the future might come from the curve -- which once had one of the highest spin rates in baseball -- which Maurer is rumored to be bringing back this year. Unfortunately, his changeup's filthiness did not manifest in Maurer's overall outcomes. Thus, Maurer's arm offers some hidden upside -- if he maintains the same strong peripherals, he could wind up striking out one-fourth of the hitters he faces. Unfortunately, that caveat was reserved for Maurer the Closer prior to the indefensible signing of Fernando Rodney. Alas, Maurer appears destined for a starting gig. The only major concern would be shoulder inflammation that sidelined him for the last month-and-a-half of 2015. But with no reports of complications in that regard, he looks to be cleared for a full workload in 2016. The big question -- the only question, really -- is in what capacity that workload will take place. (Alex Chamberlain)

The Quick Opinion: Brandon Maurer could have benefited from the departures of Craig Kimbrel and Joaquin Benoit from the Padres' bullpen prior to Fernando Rodney's disappointing arrival, but it appears San Diego's thin rotation more urgently requires his services. Steamer noticed Maurer's gains in 2015 and expect them to be reflected in his outcomes in 2016, making Maurer an upside play relative to his draft price, whether it's as a starter or a setup man.

Profile: Gone is the high-spin curveball -- it turns out it's not so high-spin when measured with better tracking technology, and he never really had a ton of success with it -- and probably with it the chance that Maurer will be a starter again. The good news is that the 95 mph fastball, the average slider, and the changeup that plays plus in shorter stints adds up to a package that put together just enough strikeouts to work in the closer role. He *probably* won't be an elite closer, but he's better suited to the role than most of the guys currently in the Padres bullpen, especially considering that Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter are lefties without the gas that managers prefer in the ninth. Maurer should even have better results once his strand rate evens out. But Padres closers since Trevor Hoffman get traded as often as the Padres themselves change uniforms, so it's folly to expect Maurer to last as long as the classic mustard and brown kits. Pay little for your saves, get a half season of decent closer work, and then move on when he's traded -- that sounds like a decent plan. (Eno Sarris)

The Quick Opinion: Don't expect a full season of saves, as the rebuilding Padres use the San Diego port to ship out relievers on a yearly basis. But Maurer looks like the closer to open the season at least, and his bad luck numbers from last year should make him a cheap closer. Why not, at that price?

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